Official's Guide to Athletics South Africa Track and Field All Ages 2026/27

Under ASA Rule 21.1, the default for technical officials in South Africa is black full-length trousers or a black skirt with one of:

• the sponsor's golf shirt;
• the National Technical Official golf shirt;
• the Provincial Technical Official golf shirt; or
• a plain white golf shirt.

No T-shirts or denim jeans. Extra clothing (white or sponsored) may be worn over the standard kit when the weather requires it. The technical delegate, with the competition director, makes the final call on the dress code.

You must also display your current ASA or provincial technical official card while on duty. At events outside the stadium, referees wear a bib marked "Referee" (or other distinctive clothing), and other officials wear similar bibs marked "Official".

• Coaching conflict (ASA Rule 15.6): you may not work as a technical official at an event if you're involved as a coach for one of the participants. You must recuse yourself, or the meeting manager will remove you.
• Competing (ASA Rule 17.7): technical delegates, referees and officials may not compete in events where they are on duty.
• Medical staff on duty may not compete either (ASA Rule 18.4).

The meeting manager has authority to remove from duty any official who isn't following the rules, and can draw on a pool of reserve officials.

Under World Athletics TR 25 (unless the competition's own regulations say otherwise):

• More than eight athletes: everyone gets three trials, then the eight athletes with the best valid marks get three more. Only athletes with a measured valid mark in their first three trials can progress, so fewer than eight may go through.
• Eight athletes or fewer: everyone gets six trials. Athletes without a valid mark after three rounds take their later trials before those with valid marks.
• Order: first drawn by lot. For the later rounds the order is the reverse of the ranking after three rounds; tied athletes keep their original relative order. Competing out of order on purpose can lead to a warning (and the trial result stands).
• Only one trial per round may be recorded for each athlete.
• The governing body's regulations may set fewer trials (never more than six) and how many athletes progress.
• Combined events: only three trials in the long jump and each throw (TR 39.8).

An athlete who retires from an event may take no further part in it.

Under World Athletics TR 25.17, the time starts when the official indicates that all is ready (in pole vault, once the bar has been set to the athlete's request). If the time runs out before the athlete starts the trial, it's recorded as a failure. If time runs out after they've started, the trial stands.

Individual events

Combined events

An athlete who decides not to attempt a trial after the time has started is charged with a failure once the time runs out.

Under World Athletics TR 29 and 32 (jumps and throws):

• Measure every valid trial straight away, whatever the distance, because lesser marks can decide countbacks and who goes through to the final rounds. Trials with a foul are normally not measured, unless an athlete is competing under protest.
• Record to the nearest 0.01m below the distance measured, unless it's a whole centimetre. For example, 6.478m is recorded as 6.47m.
• Jumps: measure from the nearest break in the landing area made by any part of the body (or anything attached to it) to the take-off line or its extension, perpendicular to the take-off line.
• Shot, discus and hammer: from the nearest mark made by the implement's first landing to the inside of the circle's circumference, along a line to the centre of the circle.
• Javelin: from the nearest mark made by the head to the inside edge of the arc, along a line to the centre of the circle the arc is part of.
• Recording: a valid trial is shown by its measurement; standard symbols are used for fouls and passes. The judge raises the white flag only once the trial is complete (the athlete has left the landing area or circle or runway correctly).
• Implements are carried back, never thrown back.

At ASA national, inter-provincial, provincial and club competitions the organisers must provide implements; athletes may use their own only if they're checked and marked as approved before the competition (ASA Rule 30).

Under World Athletics TR 25.22, in all field events except high jump and pole vault:

1. Compare the athletes' second-best performances.
2. If still equal, compare the third-best, and so on.
3. If they're still equal after that, it is a tie, and the tie stands for every place, including first place. There's no jump-off or throw-off.

If a tie affects the last place into the final three rounds, the tied athletes all get the additional trials allowed by the competition's regulations.

High jump and pole vault have their own countback and jump-off rules (TR 26.8 and 26.9).

Under World Athletics TR 17.8-17.13 and 29.10-29.12:

Track (sprints and hurdles): gauge beside the straight next to lane 1, 50m from the finish for the 100m, 110m hurdles and 200m (30m for 50m and 60m races), measuring plane 1.22m (±0.05m) high and no more than 2m from the track. Measuring periods from the flash or smoke of the gun:

Long jump and triple jump: gauge 20m from the take-off line, 1.22m high, no more than 2m from the runway. Measure for 5 seconds from when the athlete passes a mark 40m (long jump) or 35m (triple jump) from the take-off line, or from the start of a shorter run-up.

Reading: in metres per second, rounded up to the next tenth in the positive direction unless the second decimal is zero. So +2.03 is recorded as +2.1 and -2.03 as -2.0.

ASA's wind gauge operator (ASA Rule 21.3.10) measures the wind in the running direction; on the track the gauge can be run remotely through the photo finish system.

• Records: for outdoor races up to and including 200m (not on a 200m oval) and for the long jump and triple jump, wind information must be submitted. If the wind in the direction of running or jumping averages more than 2 metres per second (above +2.0), the performance can't be ratified as a record (World Athletics CR 31). ASA ratifies South African records under the same principles, using ASA forms (ASA Rule 37), and only ASA's presidium can recognise national records.
• Combined events entry standards: World Athletics allows a mark to count towards a combined events entry standard if either no single event had wind above +4.0m/s, or the average wind across the wind-measured events is no more than +2.0m/s.
• Recording: the wind gauge operator certifies on the record application that a calibrated gauge was used and gives the official reading.

The rules don't use wind readings to change the placings in a race or field event; the readings decide whether a mark is valid for records and for any qualifying standard that requires a legal wind.

Appeal to the Jury of Appeal (ASA Rule 27.1):

• Must be made within 30 minutes of the official announcement of the referee's decision.
• Must be in writing, signed by the athlete or a responsible official on their behalf.
• Must come with a R500 deposit, forfeited if the appeal is not upheld.

Who sits on the Jury (ASA Rule 20):

• Club and provincial competitions: 3 or 5 technically sound technical officials, appointed before or at the competition.
• National and inter-provincial competitions and major events on the national fixtures list: no member of the local organising committee may serve. Ideally a neutral ASA board or commission member chairs it, with neutral national technical officials not linked to the organisers or host province (or neutral provincial officials if national ones aren't available).
• The referee may be asked to attend the hearing but takes no part in the decision.

In field events, World Athletics TR 8.5 lets the referee allow an athlete to continue "under protest" after an immediate oral protest, so the trial is measured and the decision can be reviewed.